Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA)

These ISA webpages are provided for the University of Bristol's internal use only.  Outside organisations or individuals should not rely on their content.  No guarantee is given regarding their accuracy.

The Independent Safeguarding Authority (“ISA”) is the decision making function for the Vetting and Barring Scheme (“VBS”).  The VBS is underpinned by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, and will go live from 12 October 2009 onwards.  It is intended to protect children and vulnerable adults.  Compliance with the scheme will be critical, as a failure to do so will carry criminal sanctions.

The Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) is intended to protect children and vulnerable adults more securely, by constantly updating information held about individuals from a variety of sources (including employers, parents (via statutory bodies such as the police), and other organisations).  The ISA will inform current employers/ organisations if an individual becomes barred from working with children/ vulnerable adults – thereby ensuring an ongoing level of protection that the Criminal Records Bureau (“CRB”) does not afford.  CRB checks are only current as at the date of issue.  However, the CRB will remain operational, and both schemes will function alongside each other.

The scheme is relevant to Universities in situations of regulated activity.  Those definitions of regulated activity that are relevant to higher education institutions (“HEIs”) are:

The Government / Home Office defines the term ‘frequently’ as meaning once a week or more (this covers regular repetitive activity).  ‘Intensively’ means taking place on four days in one month or more (this covers the circumstances where there is contact over a short space of time that is not necessarily repeated).  ‘Overnight’ means any time between 2am and 6am AND the activity gives the person the opportunity to have face-to-face contact with children or vulnerable adults (as the case may be).  ‘Overnight’ only applies in relation to teaching, care, advice, treatment, and not to chat room moderation or transport.

Regulated activity also includes:

The implications of regulated activity are as follows:

Any breach of the above would be a criminal offence.  The University cannot employ relevant staff at the University, or permit students to take part in regulated activity, before the University has obtained confirmation that the individual is ISA-registered, even if an ISA-registered individual supervises the staff or student member in the meanwhile.

The University’s duty to refer to the ISA

The Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) also requires bodies to refer information and people to the ISA. Failure to refer may be a criminal offence. For more information please see the ISA Referral Information and ISA Referral Guidance.

Under 18 year old students

16 – 17 year olds

Those who teach, train or instruct 16-17 year olds are exempt from the requirement to register with the VBS, and the University is not obliged to check that an individual is registered with the scheme.  However, the activity is still regulated activity and it will be an offence for a barred individual to do this work and for an employer knowingly to allow a barred individual to do the work.  This means that, unless the University has knowledge or a suspicion that an individual is barred, there is no obligation on the University to undertake an ISA check on the individual in these circumstances.

Full VBS requirements apply for any staff providing care or supervision for 16-17 year olds.  Full VBS requirements also apply to 16-17 year olds participating in outreach activities e.g. attending summer schools, day visits to HEIs, widening participation (“WP”) taster sessions, and other activities which young people who are not registered students are expected to attend.  In the case of general open events where the presence of young people is merely incidental, the requirements of the relevant legislation will not apply.

15 year olds and younger

The situation currently is that those who teach, train, instruct, care for or supervise under-16s in HE are not exempt from any of the VBS requirements, and must register with the scheme.  However, the government is currently considering various alternative possibilities for under 16s enrolled on HEI programmes, including the appointment of chaperones.

Advice or guidance in relation to all under-18s

Any form of advice or guidance provided wholly or mainly for children, if the advice or guidance relates to their physical, emotional or educational well-being, is regulated activity.  Advice and guidance in HEIs is not provided wholly or mainly for children aged under-18, so will not in general be regulated activity.  However, if a person in an HEI has specific responsibility for providing advice or guidance to one or more children, then that person may be carrying out regulated activity if he is performing the service wholly or mainly for the child or children.  This means that a risk assessment will need to be undertaken in relation to staff members who potentially have specific responsibility for providing advice or guidance to one or more children, in order to determine whether an ISA check is required.

Children in employment and work experience

Employers of children aged 16 and 17 in paid or unpaid activity will not be subject to the VBS. 

In the case of children in employment aged under 16, including those in work experience, an employer would commit an offence if they knowingly used a barred person to instruct, train or teach such children where there are arrangements in place (whether in a job description or otherwise) for the employee to do this.  However, there would be no mandatory requirement on any one in the setting to be ISA registered.  It would be a matter of risk assessment for the employer or work experience placement organiser to decide who should be ISA checked.

Clinical staff

It is expected that the CRB checks for clinical staff will continue to be obtained by the NHS trusts.  However, if a clinical staff member’s contract with the University includes research that involves regulated activity, it is expected that the University would be required to undertake an ISA check (which will be likely to also include a CRB check) in relation to that staff member.

Vulnerable adults

Under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, adults are vulnerable at the point of receipt of one of the listed services, or where they are in one of the listed settings or situations.

A vulnerable adult is defined in the act as someone who is 18 or over and:

(a) is in residential accommodation (this is defined as accommodation provided for a person in connection with any care or nursing he requires, or accommodation provided for a person who is or has been a pupil attending a residential special school) or sheltered housing; or

(b) receives domiciliary care (i.e. care or assistance provided to that person in his home because of age, health or disability); or

(c) receives any form of health care, treatment, therapy or palliative care of any description; or

(d) is detained in lawful custody or is under the supervision of a probation officer; or

(e) receives certain welfare services (these include services which provide support, assistance (by reason of his or her age, health or any disability - to any extent), advice or counselling to individuals with a particular need); or

(f) receives any service or takes part in any activity aimed at people with disabilities or special needs because of his/her age or state of health; or

(g) requires assistance in the conduct of his/ her own affairs (the act prescribes situations when this is the case - please enquire for further information if necessary).

This definition of 'vulnerable adult' is concerned with the settings and services listed above, rather than an assessment of whether or not the individual is 'vulnerable' in the usual sense of the word.  Also, certain types of disability (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, Irlen Syndrome, alexia, auditory processing disorder or dysgraphia) are excluded from the ambit of the Act.  The effect of this will be that adult students accessing services aimed at dyslexia etc will not be classed as vulnerable adults for the purposes of the Act.  Other disabilities may be excluded in this way in the future.

Implementation Dates

Regulated activity and barring on the new lists will commence on 12 October 2009.  From 12 October 2009, it will be a criminal offence for the University knowingly to permit a barred individual to undertake regulated activity.  The registration and monitoring aspects of the scheme will be introduced by the VBS on a voluntary basis from 26 July 2010.  The legal requirement for employees to register with the scheme, and for employers to check their status, will come into force during November 2010.  To allow for any teething problems before November 2010, the University Secretary’s Office recommends compliance with the registration and monitoring aspects of the scheme from Monday 25 October 2010 onwards.  We have therefore referred to this date throughout the current University’s current VBS-related literature.

From 12 October 2009:

From 25 October 2010 – full legal requirements:

Procedure

The staff or student member must apply for ISA registration as part of the recruitment process.  This will involve the University undertaking ID checks, as with the CRB process.  It is expected that it will take 7 working days for an individual to register with the ISA.

The staff or student member will then be required to provide the University with his or her name, date of birth, and ISA registration number.  The University will not be charged a fee for checking the individual’s ISA status, but the University must have obtained the individual’s consent to undertake the ISA check.  The ISA check can be done online, or on a revised CRB form. The University will also be able to (and must) register its interest in an individual on the online form, or on the revised CRB form, and this will mean that the ISA will contact the University if the individual is subsequently barred. The individual must not be permitted to participate in regulated activity after receipt of any notification of a bar.

If the ISA check reveals that the applicant is ISA-registered, it means that either no relevant information about them exists, or that the ISA has assessed the information held about the individual and has decided that the applicant does not pose a risk.  The University will also need to undertake its usual recruitment processes (suitable references, ID checks, CRB checks if necessary etc). 

If the applicant is not ISA-registered, this could mean that they have not applied to the VBS, or that they are on the barred list.  In either case, the University must not employ the individual in regulated activity, even if it is unpaid or if the individual is supervised.

Note that the ISA check will only reveal whether or not an individual is ISA registered.  It will not provide full information with regard to an individual’s criminal record, which would be obtained from a CRB check.

Following 25 October 2010, it is anticipated that the VBS will be rolled out to all current members of the University, over a five-year period.  By the end of this five-year period, all members of the University undertaking regulated activity will be subject to the VBS.  The five-year roll-out period will commence first with the requirement to ISA-check those individuals undertaking regulated activity who do not have a CRB check in place, and will end with those individuals undertaking regulated activity whose CRB checks have been obtained most recently.

Student Placements

There are special provisions in the legislation for Universities who supply students elsewhere, for the purpose of enabling the student to obtain experience of engaging in regulated activity – e.g. student placements, involving regulated activity, in industry.

The legislation prescribes that the placement provider is required to obtain from the University:

(a)   A copy of an enhanced CRB check relating to the student, and

(b)   Written confirmation that the University:

    i.     Has registered an interest in the student with VBS, and that the student is appropriately registered;

    ii.     Has no reason to believe that the student is barred from the activity;

    iii.      Has no reason to believe that the student is not subject to monitoring in relation to the activity; and

    iv.     That no relevant information has been disclosed to the University by a police officer outside of the parameters of the CRB check (i.e. 'additional information’ under the CRB).

The above requirement would mean that the University must hold the CRB disclosure form for the duration of the student’s course, and that a copy of the disclosure must be sent to the placement provider – both of these activities are currently prohibited by the CRB.  It is hoped that this issue will be resolved over the next few months.

Cost

The overall cost for registering with the ISA will be £64 per person.  This fee includes the current £36 CRB registration fee with the addition of £28 to cover the costs of administering the registration process.  Whilst it will be likely that CRB checks and ISA checks will be undertaken, each process involves a different test that must be satisfied in order to determine whether a check is necessary.  There may therefore be occasions when only one of the two checks is required.

There will be no charge for volunteers registering with ISA.  However, if and when such an individual enters the paid workforce involving regulated activity, the ISA fee will be payable at that point.

The following costing structure will be applied:

Commencement of the registration and monitoring aspects of the Vetting and Barring Scheme

Individuals who may require an ISA check from 25 October 2010 onwards, within the University of Bristol, are identified as follows:

Please notify the University Secretary’s Office if there are any other groups of students who may commence study, involving regulated activity, after 25 October 2010 but during the 2010/11 academic year.

Note that entrants to higher education training programmes for teaching, medicine and allied professions and social work in autumn 2010 will not be required to be ISA-registered in advance.  They will have had CRB disclosures earlier in 2010 in respect of training placements that entail contact with the vulnerable groups, and as they will have already started their courses, will be deemed to be members of the existing workforce.  The operation of the phasing principles means that they will not therefore need to register until they take up their first professional post after training.  The first cohort of new trainee entrants to register in advance of the course will be those starting their courses after 25 October 2010.  In practice therefore, the first large group of students to apply for ISA registration will be in autumn 2011.  As the University’s first teaching block will commence before 25 October 2010, the first large wave of ISA checks on this category of student will therefore be for the 2011/12 academic year.

Transitional arrangements: January 2009

Transitional arrangements are in place for 20 January 2009 onwards.  The duty to refer information to ISA, which would have previously been referred under PoCA, PoVA or under List 99 where it relates to a risk of harm to children, will commence from 20 January 2009.

As from 20 January 2009, the University will also have a duty to respond to requests from ISA for information.

Subject to change

The government has set up consultative working groups with key stakeholders, including HEIs, and therefore, whilst the basis of the VBS is fixed, there may be changes made to the proposals before 25 October 2010.

University Secretary’s Office

November 2009